Little Red Raider

Being a ham for the camera.

On the go with his newest Texas Tech shirt (thank you Aunt Jess!).

Staring out the window and watching the rain, wishing he could go outside and play.

Kisses.

Ian's cousin, Natalie, has moved to Korea for 2 years. Ian loves Natty, and it's sad that they won't have any play dates in the near future. Before she and her parents left, we made sure to take lots of pictures...here are just a few.

I LOVE this one! It looks like they are sharing a special, funny moment that only the 2 of them understand.

Blowing kisses.

Bubbles

Getting the bubbles down from the windowsill...

Attempting to get the lid off...

Ian's version of blowing bubbles. When you try to show him to hold the wand in front of his mouth, he grabs it out of your hand, sticks it in his mouth, and THEN blows. Funny boy. :)

Walking

Ian took his first steps on Good Friday (which is kind of ironic since he was born on Good Friday last year), and started walking well on April 30th (at 13 months old). It took him a while to gain self-confidence in his balance and not to get so excited that he made himself topple over. It has been amazing to watch him gain more independence the more steady he gets. More independence also means that he is getting more mischievous and curious of everything around him. For example, the bathroom doors are ALWAYS closed now and the toilet lids are ALWAYS down because I have found odd things that were purposely placed in the toilet by a little person...life is definitely not boring around our house.

First Haircut

I know it has been a long time since updating our blog, but life has been busy to say the least. Since I last posted, Ian had his first haircut. It really wasn't too unmanageable or exceptionally long, but the comb-over was a little much for me, especially when it would blow in the wind! We took Ian to a place that specializes in kids' haircuts, and the stylist was extremely patient. Ian didn't cry, but he wasn't convinced it was the most fun thing he's ever done. Before the big haircut.

Trying to brush his own hair.

Profile shot.

They had really neat things for the kids to sit on and watch tv while they got their hair cut, but Ian only lasted on the motorcycle for a few pictures.

Doesn't he look thrilled for what is about to come?? :)

Getting his "cape" put on.

The first snip of his baby hair.

Here he is trying to check out exactly what is going on.

After...what a big boy.

No more long, straggly hairs tucked behind his ear.

Bluebonnets

It's a Texas tradition to have your child's picture taken in the bluebonnets, and I've been searching for just the right patch. Last year, Ian was an infant, and the bluebonnets weren't great because of the drought. I've waited almost too long in my quest to find the perfect spot, so I settled for some that weren't on the side of the highway (a little too distracting to have cars and trucks flying down the road at 70 miles an hour as I try to capture my child's attention for a photo). It was an overcast day, windy, and Ian wasn't feeling very photogenic, but at least I have some pictures of him in the bluebonnets. Better luck next year, huh? Trying to eat the bluebonnets.

One of the better photos, but it is sloping downhill. It's hard to get on the ground, get Ian's attention, make him smile, and take a picture all at the same time...having the camera level was another challenge.

"Are we almost done?"

Dancing along (and almost smiling) to whatever song I was singing to try to get a happy reaction out of him. He moves his arms up and down with the beat...pretty adorable if I do say so myself.

This was the last one that I took, and the majority of the photos turned out like this. Ian was definitely DONE taking pictures!

Barnyard

On Saturday, we went to a birthday party that had a barnyard and pony rides. Ian loved every minute of it, and wasn't scared of any of the animals. He had his first pony ride, but I didn't get any pictures of it because I didn't have my camera at that time, and I wasn't sure how he was going to do. Someone did get some pictures of him sitting like a big boy in the saddle, so I'll post those once I get them. For the record, the pony's name was Dusty, and she was a sweet old girl. Here are some of the pictures I did take. He wanted to touch every animal...this child has no fear. I thought this picture was so sweet of him talking to the pony and trying to pet him.

The smaller pony in the background (the one with her butt to the camera) is the one that Ian rode. Ian doesn't look very happy in this picture, but he was checking out what the other kids were doing and wasn't interested in being photographed.

Here he is walking along the fence to get to the gate; I think he thought he could sneak in there and I would never know! :)

Ian's looking over his shoulder at his friend Kamryn...it's almost as if he's protecting her from getting too close to this wild donkey.

"Silly donkey!" Laughing as the donkey tries to push the gate open (to escape from all of the toddlers that were surrounding him all afternoon!!).

This is my absolute favorite!! Ian was more interested in what was going on outside the fence than the goat that was right beside him. It's so cute how he's up on his tiptoes to peer over the fence rail.

Hanging Out at Home

I've accumulated some pictures, and just wanted to share some random moments spent at home (some of the best moments of my days).
Rocking in a chair that was Phil's when he was a little boy.

Ian loves his push toys! He has recently figured out that when one of his toys gets stopped by the wall, he walks around to the end that is touching the wall and starts pushing the toy away from the wall. He's pretty clever in figuring out how to get to where he wants to go without walking there by himself. Ian takes several steps on his own now from one object to another...it's exciting to see.

Blowing bubbles on the porch with Grammie. He looks like he's going on a safari, but I'm just trying to get him used to wearing a hat for the summer. He loves to take hats off, but the chin strap, though too big to fit close to his chin, has actually deterred him from taking this one off.

Petting Chester, our ferocious boxer. :)

Pushing yet another toy around the living room.

"Reading." Ian loves me to read to him, and he knows where the books are kept. He cruises around furniture to get to the shelf, leans over and picks up the book he wants, and then cruises over to me with the book in his hand and his arm outstretched to hand it to me. It's so cute, and I hope his love of reading continues.